Do you have Sirius XM?

[seriousthistime]

My Sirius XM plan is up for renewal.  I had hoped to call and see what other deals they might have.  I did that a couple of years ago and got fewer channels for a reduced price, but the price has crept up again.  I got an email saying my renewal payment was rejected (credit card on file was no longer valid).  So I lucked out as it was a reminder to check on lower rates.

I called and was told there is no lower rate than what I have now, around $189. I'm pretty sure I've seen other rates posted by YMers in various threads.  They tried to upsell me with more services (streaming, etc.) that would make an even higher price a better deal.

What rates are y'all paying for Sirius XM?  If you have a better deal, does the deal have a name I can ask for?  Do you have any tricks for getting a lower rate? As it stands, I have not renewed the service.

I only use Sirius XM in my car, and only because the radio reception can be spotty in this hilly area.

[ArchietheDragon]

Do you have  smart phone and decent reception in your area?   If so you could use stream music using one of the free streaming services like pandora or spotify.   Or if you are already an amazon prime member you could use amazon music.   Or for about $10/month you could uprgrade those services for ad free/better music selections. 
 

[dannylion]

A friend swears by letting subscriptions like that lapse rather than trying to negotiate a lower rate for renewal because companies will then offer a better rate on their own.   He says when he let his Sirius XM subscription lapse, they approached him with an offer of a better rate, something like 25% less than he would have paid if he had just renewed his subscription.  You might try that.  (This was several years, ago, though, so things might have changed).  When my Sirius XM expires, I'm thinking of trying one of the methods Archie suggested, probably just using Amazon Music as I already have that.  I don't drive enough anymore to make Sirius worth the cost.  

[Cookies Galore]

No Sirius for us. We listen to our local stations (mainly NPR or the UPenn station) or just use our phones for music (Spotify, prime music).

[taz157]

I call to “cancel” a couple of days before it’s supposed to renew and end up getting the new customer price (I do ask for it.). I call for myself and my MIL. We end up paying about $74 for the year (including fees and taxes). 🤷‍♀️

[minnesotapaintlady]

I miss Sirius after my 3 month trial expired, but I only drive the Fridge once or twice a week, so not worth paying for it.  I didn't realize it was $189!  Definitely wouldn't pay that much for it.

[MN-Investor]

When my SiriusXM subscription expired, I moved to Spotify. Since it's just me, it's $9.99/month plus tax, so $128.88/year. If I'm in my car, I just use the bluetooth connection to play music through the car's stereo system. I have certain songs I like to play when I go to bed, so I use the bluetooth speaker in the bedroom. You might want to explore Spotify's capabilities before you re-up your subscription to SiriusXM.

[nidena]

I have the XM Music Showcase for $200/yr.  I don't mind paying less than $1/day for it.  I do wish they would play more than the same 40-50 songs on the 80s and 90s channels.  I mean, if the radio in the 90s could play a few hours of music with no repeats (Top 100, etc), I don't see why a channel dedicated to a whole decade can't do the same.

[daisylu]

Funny that I just dealt with Sirius this morning. I have always signed up for the $4.99 (plus taxes) which includes my car and the app for home use. I lapsed and it auto renewed at 129.99 for a year. I signed in and chose cancel subscription and had to do a chat. Took less than 5 minutes and they switched me back to the $4.99 plan for a year, so I also have a refund coming.

[daisylu]

Funny that I just dealt with Sirius this morning. I have always signed up for the $4.99 (plus taxes) which includes my car and the app for home use. I lapsed and it auto renewed at 129.99 for a year. I signed in and chose cancel subscription and had to do a chat. Took less than 5 minutes and they switched me back to the $4.99 plan for a year, so I also have a refund coming.

ETA - I looked it up and the plan I have is : XM Music & Entertainment (1 Year - Promo). After taxes and fees it ended up at $76.48 for a year.

[wvugurl26]

I have the top plan, XM platinum. It has all the sports, all the channels and streaming on my phone. It was $120/year after taxes when I renewed earlier this month.

I had to pay slightly more for my DH's. I think I should have just called back later. I did call and text and went numerous rounds that day and it was $144/year in the end. I did his in July.

I don't understand it at all. In 2020, when I called there was no messing around. They immediately offered me $99/year plus taxes for each car when I called. They would not give me that price at all for DH's car in July. When I called in September for my car, it was the first offer.

I have heard if you cancel, they'll send you a good offer.

[TheOtherMe]

I just paid $71.44 for a year.  That's one car and streaming.  

I have never had any problems getting a good deal from them.  If they won't give it to me, I will call back the next day and talk to someone else.

They usually tell me I've been a customer since 2006 and they don't want to lose me.

I wouldn't be without it.

[TheOtherMe]

Sept 22, 2021 16:52:46 GMT -5 daisylu said:

Funny that I just dealt with Sirius this morning. I have always signed up for the $4.99 (plus taxes) which includes my car and the app for home use. I lapsed and it auto renewed at 129.99 for a year. I signed in and chose cancel subscription and had to do a chat. Took less than 5 minutes and they switched me back to the $4.99 plan for a year, so I also have a refund coming.

ETA - I looked it up and the plan I have is : XM Music & Entertainment (1 Year - Promo). After taxes and fees it ended up at $76.48 for a year.

This is the plan I have.

When I bought my new car, I called to see if they would give me the 4 months free that came with the car.  They refunded the money I had paid them and after the 4 months were up, charged me $71.44.

[alinal]

I pay $5/mo for the 'Sirius Select' package.

I call in each year and tell them I'm going to cancel if I can't get the same rate. The first year it took a lot of negotiating (I legit was trying to cancel and see if I wanted to resubscribe later), but the last few years has been a short conversation to get the $5 rate. Comes to about $70 annually after fees.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

We technically have two accounts that are linked. 
We have Sirius in both cars plus every single streaming option. 
DH runs his streaming off of his iPhone and our Apple TV. 
He uses his daily. He can listen to every NFL and MLB game on the app. 

I use mine occasionally on my iPhone if I happen to have a quiet moment at work. It's always on in my car, but I work a quarter-mile from my house. 

We pay annually in May. 
Anyhoo, I do have a deal for this year. It's about $200 for both accounts. Before that, it was $275 for the first account (DH's) and then there was about a 15 months of confusion with my account, so it's hard to parse how much we actually paid that would make sense as  a "plan".   

[trippypea]

We go through this every year with Sirius. Our plan auto-renews at $264/yr, so a couple days before it does, I call and say I can't afford that, and unless they have a cheaper plan, I'm canceling. For many years, they gave me the yearly price that came out to about $120/yr with all their fees. I was fine with that. Then last year, I assume because of the pandemic, they offered $60/yr ($72 after fees).

This year it again was set to spring up to $264 and I called. "Fred" offered the $120 plan again and I said, "What else have you got, Fred?" Lo and behold, after two seconds of being on hold, he came back with the same $60 plan as the previous year for "being a long time customer."

So just call them and tell them you can't afford it and if they don't have a better rate, you're canceling. If they don't budge, follow through and cancel. They will be sending you offers to sign up again in no time.

[TheOtherMe]

I get the "being a long time customer" remark every time I call.  I have had Sirius since 2006

[resolution]

I just play the free version Pandora on my phone or I use the app Libby to play audio books checked out from the library. I can plug my phone in to charge while I drive, and the sound comes out through the car's speakers. I don't drive a lot.

[trimatty471]

I am thinking of getting Spotify.

[toomuchreality]

I just renewed for a year, after 3 month @4.99 for premium and streaming. I'm still getting the same deal. There were a few issues initially, where I was given different information, by different people, which really frustrated me. But hopefully that's been corrected now. And I was given a $10.?? credit on my acct, for the mix up.
(I pay monthly)

[NastyWoman]

No but I manage the contracts for all their satellites, does that count?

[buystoys]

I don't have it, but dad does.  Since he can't watch TV, Sirius is how he gets his news and sports entertainment.  It's worth the price for him to have access.

[countrygirl2]

We have Sirius in both cars and a separate one for the house. Hubs likes Willie's Road House and DD loves a lot of the other channels of music. Also hubs listens to the political shows when he works in the garage, so he has one of my Bose radios out there with it. I got money off last time it renewed but couldn't tell you the rate right now. We don't do sports, just news and music. There aren't many things he really likes and will pay for so to me its worth it. I don't say to much about what it costs and he doesn't ask, so that works for us. But I also do the I can't afford it deal and get money off most times. In fact that is what we are listening to right now while hubs is working on the flooring.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Oct 4, 2021 22:58:54 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

No but I manage the contracts for all their satellites, does that count?

So...you could just send it to each of us...quietly? 

[NastyWoman]

Oct 23, 2021 10:46:53 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Oct 4, 2021 22:58:54 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

No but I manage the contracts for all their satellites, does that count?

So...you could just send it to each of us...quietly? 

Nope, I manage the contracts to build the satellites for their supplier. They, along with other customers, are the reason that the contracts I manage are valued at a number that starts with a "B". 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

We have it in both cars.

My neighbor was given an in home unit by her kids many years ago for Sirius which she gave to TD.  He tried to get it working, only to discover that the unit was before Sirius and XM merged and is no longer supported.  I have no idea what TD pays for our subscriptions, but they are well used.

[TheOtherMe]

Listening now through Alexa

[MN-Investor]

I just got a letter from SiriusXM saying that, because of work I recently had done on my vehicle, I qualify for a 3-month free trial of Sirius XM. So I have access until mid-January. I'm fine with that. I pay for Spotify and I'm not about to pay for a second streaming audio service.

[zibazinski]

I pay $5.99 a month.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Oct 23, 2021 20:43:06 GMT -5 MN-Investor said:

I just got a letter from SiriusXM saying that, because of work I recently had done on my vehicle, I qualify for a 3-month free trial of Sirius XM. So I have access until mid-January. I'm fine with that. I pay for Spotify and I'm not about to pay for a second streaming audio service.

Same.  Took the Fridge in for recall work and got another 3 months free starting yesterday.  There was the 3 free months when I got the vehicle back in May and I haven't missed it enough the 2 months it was off to pay for it, but I'll take free.